One of the most annoying things I hate in life is people who pretend that they are happy and that they have everything together and that their problems are nonexistent or at the very least insignificant and petty. Notice I used the word 'pretend'.

Don't get me wrong, when someone asks me how I'm doing, I don't (usually) go into a spiel about everything that is going wrong in my life at that moment, but I'm also under no delusion that my life (or myself) is perfect. Notice I used the word 'delusion'.

One of my personal fave ways to answer that question is with a "can't complain." That doesn't really mean I have nothing in life to complain about. It just means that I don't want to be the person that complains and takes everything for granted in life. It means that despite my problems, I am grateful enough to be alive that I feel I have no right to complain about things. By no means does it mean I don't *want* to at times.

I think wearing a genuine frown is a million times better than wearing a fake smile. Please, don't tell me to smile. That's telling me that my true emotions don't matter to you or that I'm supposed to be some kind of happy doll 24/7. I *know* that I look better when I smile. I also feel better when I genuinely *feel* like smiling. But plastering a smile on my face and claiming that my life is perfect is *not* the way I'm gonna achieve that.

Don't get me wrong, I see no point in wallowing in negativity. Sarcasm and defeatism and being jaded about the world, that's not me at all. But I *do* think I have a healthy sense of reality. I know that you can't appreciate a sunny day if you've never known rain. It's the ups and the downs, the highs and the lows, all of it together that make up reality. And being in touch with reality is what makes me the happiest overall. Notice I used the word 'overall' (not 'always').